The Mirage

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A REPORTER AT LARGE about real-estate development in Dubai. When a pan-Arab edition of “The Apprentice” was announced, earlier this year, Mohamed Ali Alabbar was the obvious choice to host it: a suave man of 45, he is the founder and chairman of Emaar, a real-estate company valued at $25 billion, and the developer of a building-the Burj Dubai-that will be the tallest in the world. He is also erecting the world's largest shopping mall and the world's largest aquarium. All these projects will be constructed in his home city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), which, under the supervision of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has become a city where everything new must be a landmark, and where everything is new. The writer met with Alabbar in July aboard his private plane. Describes Dubai, which has a mile-long line of modern skyscrapers 30-, 40-, 50-stories high and a beachfront of artificial islands. To see Dubai is to experience a kind of futerized present. Mentions the Sheikh Zayed Road towers. In 2003, Emaar held an architectural competition for the design of the Burj Dubai tower; the winner was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The tower will contain a hotel, 112 floors of apartments, and 50 floors of office space. Mentions Robert Booth, executive director of Emaar. Describes the history of Dubai, which was a small trading port before oil began to flow in the 1960s. Tells about Sheikh Mohammed, who is also a horse-racer and poet. After he took over the city in the mid-1990s, expansion accelerated, with an emphasis on building spectacular landmarks, which attracted tourists, banks, and multinational corporations. The Sheikh parcels out desert lands to privileged lieutenants. Describes Alabbar's background. In 1997, he became head of Emaar. Most of Dubai's large-scale development entities are fully owned by the government. Mentions Dubai government architect Farhan Faraidooni. Dubai learned to put up buildings on an imperial scale, and to do it fast. Its population is 75% male, and, overwhelmingly, of working age. Most of Dubai's construction industry depends on foreign labor and nationals make up only a fifth of Dubai's 1 million people. For expatriate professionals, moguls, and celebrities, however, Dubai offers a privileged lifestyle in a dynamic dictatorship, with a politically-cowed media and working class, low crime, and a high rate of prostitution. The symbolic heart of tourist Dubai is the Burj Al Arab, Alabbar's sail-shaped luxury hotel designed by Tom Wright. Describes the hotel. Mentions Scottish-born architect John Alexander Smith, who claims that Dubai has failed to court the world's best architects. He also worries that Dubai is ecologically unsustainable. Mentions air-conditioning problems. Mentions Ski Dubai, an indoor ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates. Imad Haffar is research-and-development manager of Nakheel, the government-owned developer of the Palm Jumeirah artificial islands and the World. Dubai has 40 miles of natural beachfront and will have over 350 miles of artificial beachfront after planned developments are finished. The idea of a Dubai beach is at the heart of the city's real-estate boom, which was given new force in 2002 when Sheikh Mohammed decreed that foreigners were entitled to buy property and afterwards could attain residency. Mentions Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of Nakheel. Describes the World, a set of 300 small artificial islands shaped like the continents, which will be a kind of luxury resort and residential enclave. Hamza Mustafa, general manager of the World, took the writer to the island G-19, part of Greenland. This summer, the Dubai real-estate market has lagged, and a jitteriness is palpable. Mentions a stall in the development of the Arab edition of “The Apprentice” after Alabbar was seen with Israel's Shimon Peres. Describes a flight from Dubai to Lebanon, during which Emaar's worth rose by $3 billion.